Contents

Description

Describe societal issues of electric cars here

Electric Cars: The Silent Killer

Society can be negatively impacted by EV's. One of the benefits that EV's are advertising is that they are much quieter than combustion engine cars. This could also be a downfall. In large cities or quiet neighborhoods, pedestrians may not know that they are coming, because they are so quiet. This is especially dangerous for children who are less aware of their surroundings. Electric cars could be the cause of many more hit and runs, and ultimately deaths. "Are quiet, which could be quite dangerous to pedestrians in a noisy city or in a neighborhood full of children."

Team Totes

Long Term Power Problems

“Even with the threat of local clusters addressed, there are still long-term challenges created by high levels of EV adoption. If EV loads push peak demand higher, the overall reliability of the grid could be degraded as a result. Reliability events (which result from insufficient generation or transmission to meet demand) can be felt instantaneously throughout the system in the form of blackouts and rolling brownouts. As the model shows, shifting EV loads to off-peak hours can mitigate any increases in peak demand. However, even without increasing peak demand, the increased level of transmission utilization can affect the cost of electricity delivery. Under current loads, congestion in transmission lines already cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. This problem will likely be compounded as EV adoption increases.”

This article explained many problems that electric cars could have, but a big problem that was brought up was the fact that the power grid may not be able to handle the power needs of all the people who get electric cars. Yes, people would usually charge them at low power demand hours, like during the night, but if a majority of American residents got electric cars our power grid would still be strained and could cause blackouts or brownouts across the nation. Either way, the cost of electricity for everyone in the nation would increase because there is an overall increase in usage of electricity.

TEAM ZLAKA

Team ZLAKA: With more and more people pushing for greener technology, one of the areas of emphasis is
transportation. However, as car companies manufacture electric cars they have experienced
some problems. The most well-known problem has occurred with the Chevy Volt with
the battery erupting into flames. Although this problem drastically affects GM, it creates a
negative image for all car manufactures trying to explore this new technology. If this problem
continues, the public may start to distrust electric vehicles. Check it out at this article:

Americans as a whole are becoming more environmentally aware of environmental impacts and are driving less, investing in more fuel efficient vehicles, and driving more responsibly. Additionally, the government is imposing stricter regulations on automobile manufacturers and offering incentives to consumers for investing in alternative fuel vehicles. These changes in societal trends will help drive the consumer transportation industry in a new direction.

Electric vehicle obviously require electricity to run. In some places, especially larger citing, connecting too many electric vehicles to the power grids could overwhelm the grid causing power outages. This would be not only annoying, but possibly crippling to many large cities. However, New York City has already considered this issue. Based on electric car estimates for the next few years, as long as people charge their vehicles mostly at night, the power grids should be able to supply all the necessary normal power in addition to

Think About This:

Electric cars, just like any other new and unfamiliar concept, require some getting used to. For example, if we want to trade our gasoline vehicles for electric ones, we need to learn how to refuel them. The process sounds simple, but that might not necessarily be the case. Even the smartest of us are going to need a little assistance in operating the new electric pumps the first few times. America had to overcome the same hurdle when gasoline cars first came out. Besides that, driving an electric car may not be the same as driving a car that runs on fossil fuels. The way it drives and the new controls will feel weird in the beginning. It's just like sleeping on a new mattress. You might have a hard time falling asleep at first, but eventually the new mattress will feel as comfortable as the old one. Should we make the switch to electric cars, we must do so gradually so that we have a chance to adapt to these changes.

Who's Driving Electric Cars?

Years ago, electric vehicles were owned and built for science-oriented and environmentally conscious people. Today there are more motivations to drive electric vehicles, which has created a few different types of electric car drivers. Some people drive electric cars because it is the latest and coolest piece of consumer technology. Others drive these vehicles because they genuinely care about their impact on the environment. Similarly, there is a category that drives electric cars because they are concerned about the amount of oil imported from foreign countries. There is also the very cost conscious category, who buy electric cars because they have worked out the economic benefit of driving one, provided they own the car for a certain amount of time.

Team Diesel

One impact of electric cars that many do not think about is the impact it has on your local mechanic. Most of them have gone their whole entire careers only working on your standard gasoline powered engine. They have not seen anything like an electric engine and most likely do not have the appropriate training to work on one. It will completely change your tune up forever.

There are going to have to be new mechanics brought in straight out of school to come work on these cars. They will not have much experience working on their own. The current mechanics are going to have to either retire or learn the new ways. This in turn will lead new jobs being created with just as many jobs being lost. The old mechanics will essentially have to turn into just specializing on what now will be a classic car.

Can I Charge My Car Here?

This blog post brought up an interesting social situation concerning electric vehicles. It talks of an instance where an owner of an electric car parks it in the lot of his apartment complex and charges it every night. The outlets in the lot, however, are not paid for by the tenants, so he was effectively getting free "gas." To compensate for this extra use, the owners had to raise rents. This problem had a relatively simple fix, however, what if it happens at your home. What if, for example, your friend from out of town asks to charge up when he stays the weekend? This brings up the issue of paying for a friend's gas. With internal combustion engines, this is not a problem as people fill up their own cars when on the road. But as electric cars become more popular, people will be trying to fill up whenever possible, especially if someone else foots the bill. This means that public parking could become scarce as lots starts charging in order for you to plug in.